Five Ancient Cannons Were Just Rescued From Blackbeard's Sunken Ship

Looking like something straight off of Davy Jones' ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean, five cannons saw air for the very first time in almost 300 years yesterday as they were lifted from what's believed to be legendary pirate Blackbeard's sunken ship.

Prior to yesterday's haul, project director Billy Ray Morris released the following statement about the coming expedition:

We think the largest of the four cannons may be of Swedish origin since the only other recovered gun this size was made in Sweden. We also hope to recover two large concretions each the size of a twin bed. They may contain barrel hoops, cannon balls and other treasures.

And just how big might that single Swedish one be? No less than a whopping 214 stone of cast-iron capable of sending 2,700 gram cannonballs soaring around two miles. The remaining four cannons weighed in at a (relatively) measly 142 stone each. And this is only a quarter of the total haul, which now adds up to 20 recovered cannons in all.

As PopSci notes, this impressive mess of firepower is what allowed Blackbeard to blockade the port at Charleston, SC for nearly a week before his baby sank for good in 1718. Just six months later, now without his precious Queen Anne's Revenge, a tag-team attack by the colonies of North Carolina and Virginia was finally able to do Blackbeard in for good. Three-hundred years later, though, his legacy still lives on, and you can even check out this awesome interactive map of the shipwreck created by a North Carolina museum dedicated to the legend itself. [PopSci]